191. Carex Recta Boott. Cuspidate Sedge

Fig. 1058

C. recta Boott, in Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 2: 220. pl. 222. 1840.

Glabrous, culms phyllopodic, from long rootstocks, rather stout, smooth or rough above, erect, 1°-3° tall. Leaves often equalling the culm, 1"~3" wide, their margins revolute, smooth, their sheaths more or less nodulose; bracts similar, not spathe-like, usually overtopping the spikes; staminate spikes 1-3, stalked; pistillate spikes 2-4, approximate, narrowly cylindric, often staminate at the summit, 1'-2 1/2' long, erect, the upper often sessile, the lower stalked; perigynia elliptic, coriaceous, green, nerveless or 2-4-nerved, with a very short entire beak; scales dark-purple, brownish or chestnut with a green center, lanceolate, pale, acuminate or abruptly contracted into a serrate awn, much longer than the perigynia; stigmas 2.

In marshes, Labrador to the coast of Massachusetts. Also in Europe. Erroneously referred to C. cuspidata Wahl. in our first edition. July-Aug.

192. Carex Cryptocarpa C. A. Meyer. Hidden-Fruited Sedge

Fig. 1059

Carex cryptocarpa C. A. Meyer, Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. 1: 226. pl. 14. 1831.

Glabrous, stoloniferous, culm stout, erect, sharply 3-angled, rough above, 1 1/2°-3° tall. Leaves smooth, 1"-4" wide, the basal shorter than or equalling the culm, the upper ones and the lower bract shorter; staminate spikes 2-4, stalked; pistillate spikes 2-5, all filiform-stalked and drooping, densely flowered, i'-3 long, 3"-4 1/2" in diameter; perigynia oblong or oval, puncticulate, green, several-nerved, 1 1/2" long, tipped with a very short entire beak; scales purple-brown, ascending, lanceolate, acute, acuminate or even cuspidate, from little to 2 or 3 times longer than the perigynia; stigmas 2.

Arctic America from Greenland to Alaska, south along the coast to Oregon and Washington. Europe and Asia. Summer.

193. Carex Maritima Mueller. Seaside Sedge

Fig. 1060

C. maritima Mueller, Fl. Dan. 4: fasc. 12, 5. pl. 703. 1777.

Glabrous, light green, culms aphyllopodic, rather stout, erect, sharply 3-angled, smooth, or roughish above, little fibrillose at base, 1°-2 1/2° tall, from stout stoloniferous rootstocks. Leaves 1 1/2-5" wide, roughish on the margins and midvein, rarely overtopping the culm, sterile culm-leaves longer; lower bracts exceeding culm; staminate spikes 1-3, slender-stalked; pistillate spikes 2-4, ovoid- to linear-oblong, often staminate at the summit, densely many-flowered, not flexuous, I'-3' long, 4"-8" thick, drooping or widely spreading on filiform stalks; perigynia oval or nearly orbicular, ascending, pale, biconvex, not inflated, 1 1/2" long, few-nerved, tipped with a very short and nearly or quite entire beak; scales ascending, green, lanceolate-subulate, ciliate-scabrous, 2-8 times as long as the perigynia; stigmas 2.

In salt meadows. Newfoundland and Labrador to Massachusetts. Also in Europe. June-Aug.